Thomas Cook, the world’s first travel agency in the world, was founded in 1850.

The 16th century Escorial palace of King Phillip II of Spain had 1,200 doors.

The British royal family changed their surname (last name) from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor, the name of their castle, in 1917.

When Alexander Graham Bell passed away in 1922, every telephone served by the Bell system in the USA and Canada was silent for one minute.

Burt Reynold’s father was the chief of police in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The oldest existing governing body operates in Althing in Iceland. It was established in 930 AD.

About US Presidents and Vice Presidents -
George Washington was inaugurated for his first term, on 30 April 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City. His second inauguration took place in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson was the first to be inaugurated in Washington DC. Jefferson also was the only one to walk to and from his inauguration.

The US Presidential candidate with the highest popular vote ever was Ronald Reagan. In 1984 he secured 54,455,075 votes. Reagan was also the candidate with the highest electoral vote: 525, in 1984. In that year he equalled the 49 states that Nixon carried in 1972.

Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) was the first woman to run for office of US President. She and her sister were the first women to run a Wall Street brokerage (1870).

In 1975, Emil Matalik put himself forward as US Presidential candidate. He advocated a maximum of one animal and one tree per family because he believed that there were too many animals and plant life on earth. Louis Abalofia also put himself forward: his campaign poster featured a photo of him in the nude, with the slogan “I have nothing to hide.” In the 1860s, financier George Francis Train ran for office with one item: the introduction of a new calender based on his birth date.

The first president to fly across the Atlantic Ocean while in office was Woodrow Wilson.

George Washington was the first U.S. president to appear on a postage stamp.

The inauguration of George W. Bush on January 20, 2001 was only the second time in history when both parents of the newly elected president were present at the ceremony; the first time was with John F. Kennedy in 1961.

The first president to live in the White House was second president John Adams, who moved there in 1800.

The most words at a president’s inauguration was William Henry Harrisons’, at 8,445 words, which took an hour and 45 minutes, during a snowstorm.

The word “Christian” appears only three times in the Bible: Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16.

Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: “It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man.”

The word “grandmother” appears in the Bible only once: 2 Timothy 1:5.

A chariot imported from Egypt cost around 600 shekels of silver (1 Kings 10:29). That would be about $77,000. One shekel was 4 days wages.

The 66 books of the Bible is divided into 1,189 chapters consisting of 31,173 verses. The Old Testament has 929 chapters, the New Testament 260. (King James Version)

A scientific satellite needs only 250 watts of power, the equivalent used by two hour light bulbs, to operate.

The Space Shuttle always rolls over after launch to alleviate structural loading, allowing the shuttle to carry more mass into orbit.

The smallest transistor is 50-nanometres wide – roughly 1/2000 the width of a human hair.

In the 6th century BC Greek mathematician Pythagoras said that earth is round – but few agreed with him.

The thin line of cloud that forms behind an aircraft at high altitudes is called a contrail.

An electric oven uses one kilowatt-hour of electricity in about 20 minutes, but one kilowatt-hour will power a TV for 3 hours, run a 100-watt bulb for 12 hours, and keep an electric clock ticking for 3 months.